LEXINGTON, Va. - VMI basketball continues action at Cameron Hall Saturday against the Samford Bulldogs in the first of two regular season meetings. Tip-off slated for 1 p.m. The contest will mark the second of a three-game homestand – the longest for the Keydets during the 2019-20 season. Also slated to visit Lexington are Samford January 4 and Western Carolina January 8. VMI has completed its non-conference schedule and will compete against SoCon opponents for the remainder of the regular season slate. The Keydets will be looking to snap a three-game skid after falling to Furman 89-73 on New Year's Day at Cameron Hall.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Admission is free for children and all adult tickets are half off the regular price.
Last Time Out: Furman 89, VMI 73 - January 1, 2020
Senior guard Jordan Lyons scored a season-high 40 points behind 10 three-pointers Wednesday afternoon to lead the Furman University men's basketball team to an 89-73 win at VMI in Southern Conference action. Lyons drilled 10-of-12 three-point attempts and made all eight of his free throws with four assists. Lyons' 10 threes ties a Cameron Hall record, sharing the mark with Shawn Moore of Marshall University set on Jan. 16, 1995. Freshman
Sean Conway led VMI with 15 points, sinking 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, and five steals.
Garrett Gilkeson had 12 points, three assists and two steals while
Travis Evee posted nine points and three assists.
Louis Tang also scored nine and
Jake Stephens grabbed a teamhigh eight rebounds to go with five points. The Paladins (12-3/2-0 SoCon) hit 13-of-25 treys (54%) for the game and shot 28-of-49 from the floor overall (57.1%). The Keydets shot just 8-of-29 from distance (27.6%) and 25-of-60 (37%) overall.
Last Meeting with Samford: Samford 84, VMI 77 (OT) - February 19, 2019
The VMI men's basketball team led for nearly 37 minutes Saturday afternoon, but visiting Samford University rallied for an 84-77 overtime win in Southern Conference play. The Keydets had a 67-53 advantage with 6:32 on the game clock after a dunk from
Myles Lewis. A 12-0 Bulldog run over the next four minutes cut the lead to just two and VMI still had a two-point edge in the closing seconds of regulation. Brandon Austin finished in the paint with 13 seconds left to tie the game and a VMI potential game-winner with two seconds left didn't go down to force overtime. Samford quickly took control of the extra session, opening a 79-72 lead. VMI cut the edge to two (79-77) with 1:45 remaining after a pair of
Jake Stephens freethrows, but a traditional three-point play from Ruben Guerrero on Samford's next possession provided a five-point cushion. The Bulldogs held VMI scoreless the rest of the way. Samford shot 4-of-5 from the floor in the extra five-minute overtime period, while VMI was just 2-of-11, including 1-of-8 from distance. Junior guard
Garrett Gilkeson filled the stat column with 13 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and career-high seven assists before fouling out. Guerrero paced Samford (15-11/5-8 SoCon) with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots and Austin posted 19 points and seven boards for the visitors.
A win over Samford would:
--- Be VMI's first win over Samford since January 21, 2016 (83-76)
--- Give VMI its first SoCon win of the year
SERIES HISTORY
VMI vs. Samford
This will be 15th meeting between the schools that first met in 1967. Samford leads the series 12-2 and has taken the last nine in the rivalry. VMI's last win in the series came on January 21, 2016 (83-76).
